Have you been searching for the perfect modern coffeehouse to meet your clients at, have a quick business meeting, or just get some work done? Well if you're in Los Angeles, look no further, Graffiti Cafe is the perfect place! The interior is a clean black and white palette with painted white floors and exposed vaulted beam ceilings that make the space feel incredibly open. It's a gorgeous crisp palette just waiting to be tagged by the local graffiti and street artists that fill the streets of the La Brea neighborhood.

The baristas are as friendly as ever and stand behind the all white counter lined with treats. This peace sign dictates quite an accurate description of this place. The glowing sign along with the incredible music creates a vibe that almost makes you feel as if you're floating like a cloud in the space. It's a real chill experience even when you're hyped on the delicious Intelligentsia coffee!

There are many different types of seating in this modern coffeehouse to suit your mood and your company. The classic fireplace mixes with the modern elements to create a cozy setting. Using a modern black sofa that is extremely comfortable can really make one feel cozy in a space that may appear to be very sleek.

This area is great for lounging and chatting with friends while sipping coffee or eating one of their amazing Butter Nutter cookies!

You can head upstairs to the laptop stations in the lofted area and look down onto the crowd or you can grab a comfy seat in one of the booths lining the perimeter of the open space below.

The tables and chairs float in front of the booths to create small group seating that can easily be clustered together for larger groups. You won't feel cramped in this large open space by any means. The use of modern black dining chairs and simple round white dining tables creates a bold, modern contrast in any space.

The larger communal spaces are perfect for serious business! Long dining tables are linked together to create a communal area for interacting with larger groups or just new friends.

The graffiti installation in this rear nook subtly separates the corner from the open plan seating. Semi-circular booths create intimate, more private seating in this area.

No matter what your agenda is, this modern coffeehouse is tailored to suite you. The coffee is definitely sublime and the music is so good you won't want to leave! Soups and sandwiches are coming soon and I'm sure so much more is up their sleeve! Welcome to the neighborhood Graffiti Cafe!

The hot summer days always call for something light and refreshing. This modern loft features a light-filled design by Linda Bergroth and is just about as refreshing as you can get. Bold colors dance around the room like summer flowers in bloom while the white hardwood floors reflect the light that shines in these large gorgeous windows.

The modern glossy blue lacquer kitchen is such a strong and bold contrast with all the white surroundings. Adding bold colors in a neutral space is the perfect way to add character to any room. The use of the wall mounted light fixture above the cook top is a very clever idea and a great alternative for under-counter lighting. You can get this look in your own kitchen by using this modern swing arm lamp.

Bold colors and patterns bring so much fun energy into the space and still manage to maintain a sophisticated feel. Bright colored pillows are a great way to add personal style and energy into your modern loft.

Blue, black, and white stay consistent in the small library and create a well balanced, interesting space that one would actually get excited about reading in! The patterned rug is...well...just so cool! Blue accents on the built-in shelving create a very powerful element that shows the level of detail considered in this modern loft. Simple, but decorative pendant lighting can be a defining element in the style of your home. The solid black pendant (above) makes a strong statement due to the contrast with the white, but is very simple in form.

Large, bold artwork above the bed is always a great alternative to a headboard. This colorful painting brings a very playful, positive energy into the bedroom and almost guarantees you'll wake up everyday with a smile! The wall mounted bedside sconces are perfect reading lights and help with keeping the nightstands clear from clutter.

The contemporary bathroom may be neutral in color, but its boldness is right on par. The gray, black, and white geometric patterned concrete floor tiles are a dynamic element and pair perfectly with the beveled edge white brick pattern tile. The vintage bathroom sconces and pendant lights bring an industrial vibe into this modern bathroom. Bathroom lighting can change the entire feel of your space so creating balance is key when deciding what direction you want to go.

Oh look, and there's a modern sauna, as if we weren't sold on this loft already! This looks like the perfect place to relax after a hard day at work.

Hope you all are having a beautiful and refreshing summer! Make sure to take a little time for some rest and relaxation!

Thank you everyone for all your entries in our Modern Hues Pinterest contest! We hope you continue to follow us on Pinterest... We will try to consistently provide inspirational images every day! If you did not get a chance to participate in our contest, we would still love for you to join in on the fun and come follow us on Pinterest!

After writing my post on Tuesday, Modern Chandelier Meets Art Installation, I decided to post about actual art installations because well, it's fun and they're an amazing source of design inspiration. So, prepare to be inspired....

Since large-scale installations are very architectural, it makes perfect sense that the ones I'm featuring today are done by IwamotoScott Architects. Their range of projects include residential, commercial, institutional, competitions.... and art.

Voussoir Cloud

The Voussoir Cloud was designed for the Southern California Institue of Architecture gallery in Los Angeles. It consists of fourteen segmented pieces made out of paper thin petals shapes "designed to explore the structural paradigm of pure compression".

The project was inspired by such icons as Frei Otto and Antonio Gaudi who also studied efficient form. Each new form of design inspiration is developed out of another and that is inspiring.

UVA ISAR Exibit

IwamotoScott was selected to be an exhibitor for the Michael Owen Jones Lecture and Exhibition at University of Virginia's School of Architecture. The UVA ISAR Exhibit was made of graduated pleated paper with two different projects printed on alternating sides of the pleats to form this fascinating art installation.

The effect is giant postcard that flickers between the two images upon movement. The pleats allowed for efficient shipping as it was flat-packed all the way to Virginia from California.

UVA ISAR Exibit (above)

In-Out Curtain

Unlike the first two installations, the In-Out Curtain is actually a prototype for an operable screen that combines modular origami and digital production with light. It's sort of a hybrid drape/venetian blind/screen.

The curtain uses simple material resistance to generate its 2-dimensional movement quality. It's never in a permanent state, either in shape, or when against a window.

Although these are certainly not weekend DIY projects and also not something you would put in your home, the use of materials, form, and function are inspiring at so many levels. They serve as inspiration for designing our home and selecting modern furniture or lighting.

When we speak of design, we often refer to architecture, furniture and graphics, but rarely do we talk about letters. "Typeface" is a typography term that refers to the visual characteristics of a set of letters and numbers, and no typeface is more universally used, imitated, loved and loathed than Helvetica. A Google image search of the word Helvetica speaks volumes of its iconic place in 20th century communication design. What is is that makes this typeface so ubiquitous?

Developed in 1957 by Swiss designer Max Miedinger, Helvetica is the Modernist's dream - a sans serif typeface that eschews ornamentation for clean, crisp function. And it can be found absolutely everywhere.

On the New York City subway:

In the mark of some of the world's largest corporations:

And all over the place in graphic designer tributes such as this one (clearly inspired by the Russian artist Kasmir Malevich):

It arouses a range of emotions among designers. Some love it. Some don't:

Some imitate it. It's younger cousin Arial (developed in 1982), has been packaged with Microsoft operating systems since 1992 and is one of the most widely used computer fonts today.

I'll admit, the more I look at Helvetica, the more I start to notice that the same rules that dictate good typography apply to good design as well. You don't have to go far to see it, we have some on our website. Check out some of these fixtures below. There's the variable shaped bowl of Helvetica's "d" and "b" that reminds me of this Lite Source Kito Green Table Lamp:

I'm not suggesting that one influenced the other, but it is fun to note how the formal rules that govern typeface design are very much at play in the larger design world. The Modernist design principles that informed the creation of Helvetica are as ubiquitous as the the typeface itself.